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Page from the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting

Wang Gai

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image shows a painting of a mountainous landscape with a house on a cliff. The painting is done in black ink and shows a mountain range with jagged peaks, some bare trees in the foreground, and a house perched on a cliff. The house has a tiled roof and appears to be surrounded by a railing. There are several lines of Chinese text in the top-right corner, written vertically. The background of the painting fades to gray towards the top. The painting appears to be on aged paper with visible signs of wear. The image is divided vertically down the middle, as if two facing pages have been photographed.

Artwork details

Date:
first edition printed in 1679
Medium:
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Culture:
China
Dimensions:
599 × 488 px
Museum record:
View original
Palette